F1 cars too complex for telemetry ban – Alonso

Double-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso has hit back at suggestions F1 should ban telemetry.

It has been suggested banning telemetry will move the sport closer to the purity of MotoGP, where riders are essentially alone to manage their own races.

But Alonso warned: “They first would have to make the cars simpler.

“That’s not possible with the complex technology of today,” he told Auto Motor und Sport.

F1 chiefs want to scale back the amount of telemetry that can be collected by teams from 2021 in a bid to give more control to drivers and allow for greater unpredictability as part of the push to improve the sport.

Reactions to the proposals for 2021 have been mixed up and down the paddock. Williams deputy chief Claire Williams said she wanted to “crack open some champagne” in response to the plans, while Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was more reserved, calling the proposal a “starting point” that needed to be built upon.

F1 bosses are set to spend the coming weeks discussing the plans in greater detail with teams, having set a target of finalising the engine regulations for 2021 by the end of May.